Who knew Hawaii had seasons? Everyone kept assuring me that winter was indeed cooler and more rainy than summer, but I didn’t believe it. Not one bit. I knew there were times when the hot was hotter in the summer, because those were the nights when it was hard to get to sleep. When I’d hear people who were from here complaining about the heat certain days, I knew it wasn’t in my head.
Last week was one of those weeks. It seemed like the winds just…stopped. The trees didn’t move, the air didn’t move, and I didn’t want to move, either. The heat (usually mid-80s) and humidity (in the neighborhood of 80%) are completely pleasant if there is a breeze. But take that breeze away and you have hot, wet, stagnant air. I hate that feeling of sweating as I step out of the shower, and that’s when you get that here.
In the last week or so, though, it has gotten cool and a little rainy. It doesn’t rain all day (that has happened on precisely one day since I moved here, and there was a tropical storm passing by). It rains on and off throughout the day, and gets sunny in between. And the rain isn’t cold and nasty. It’s light, warm, and very tropical-feeling. I love it.
I grew up in a place with four distinct seasons. Granted sometimes it felt like we would skip fall and go straight to winter, after a 6-week-long summer, but there were changes. Even within the seasons, the weather was variable. I was really nervous about living in a place that is warm all year (but if you talk to me again in February, I bet the nervousness will have turned to joy). Yesterday I was told that the temps will even start getting down into the 60s at night. I almost started jumping for joy! A slightly cooler rainy season is STILL A SEASON!!! Wahooo!!! And, as they say here in Hawaii, no rain = no rainbows. I saw TWO different rainbows just on my way home from work yesterday! I hope I never get blasé about them!!
Little tidbit for life: Always be excited about rainbows.
Speaking of seasons, I completely forgot about Halloween even though it’s a HUGE deal here. It simply does not feel at all like autumn. Palm fronds don’t undergo a color change before dropping to the ground. Good thing, because if you were under that it could hurt. The Weather Channel has been covering the “foliage season” in its forecasts and it seems like I’m watching a recorded loop from last year because I feel very far removed from all that.
I’ve been decidedly un-festive so far, wrinkling my nose at the holiday decorations (granted, seeing a Christmas aisle next to a Halloween aisle at Target may have been a bit excessive in early September).
Last week was one of those weeks. It seemed like the winds just…stopped. The trees didn’t move, the air didn’t move, and I didn’t want to move, either. The heat (usually mid-80s) and humidity (in the neighborhood of 80%) are completely pleasant if there is a breeze. But take that breeze away and you have hot, wet, stagnant air. I hate that feeling of sweating as I step out of the shower, and that’s when you get that here.
In the last week or so, though, it has gotten cool and a little rainy. It doesn’t rain all day (that has happened on precisely one day since I moved here, and there was a tropical storm passing by). It rains on and off throughout the day, and gets sunny in between. And the rain isn’t cold and nasty. It’s light, warm, and very tropical-feeling. I love it.
I grew up in a place with four distinct seasons. Granted sometimes it felt like we would skip fall and go straight to winter, after a 6-week-long summer, but there were changes. Even within the seasons, the weather was variable. I was really nervous about living in a place that is warm all year (but if you talk to me again in February, I bet the nervousness will have turned to joy). Yesterday I was told that the temps will even start getting down into the 60s at night. I almost started jumping for joy! A slightly cooler rainy season is STILL A SEASON!!! Wahooo!!! And, as they say here in Hawaii, no rain = no rainbows. I saw TWO different rainbows just on my way home from work yesterday! I hope I never get blasé about them!!
Little tidbit for life: Always be excited about rainbows.
Speaking of seasons, I completely forgot about Halloween even though it’s a HUGE deal here. It simply does not feel at all like autumn. Palm fronds don’t undergo a color change before dropping to the ground. Good thing, because if you were under that it could hurt. The Weather Channel has been covering the “foliage season” in its forecasts and it seems like I’m watching a recorded loop from last year because I feel very far removed from all that.
I’ve been decidedly un-festive so far, wrinkling my nose at the holiday decorations (granted, seeing a Christmas aisle next to a Halloween aisle at Target may have been a bit excessive in early September).
I bought us tickets for the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl on Christmas Eve – not something we usually do on the holidays (mostly because I refuse to be cold to watch football but I digress). I didn’t realize it was time to start shopping for Thanksgiving until I saw the pallets of canned cranberry sauce (yum!) at the grocery store. What do you mean, soup weather? It’s still summer!! But it seems like even the subtle change in seasons might be enough to get me in the mood. That and the Christmas CD (Cool Yule, people, how can you go wrong with a title like that??) my mom bought me at Costco.
And once I get in the spirit there is no going back. Once it’s on in my house, it’s on. A couple of short weeks from now I think the Christmas season will be in full effect. Be afraid, people. Be very afraid.
The other season to get excited for – SURF SEASON!! I don’t surf, though I do plan to take lessons sometime in the next couple of months. I want to try it out. But the winter brings the big waves to the North Shore of Oahu, which consequently becomes home to some of the biggest surfing competitions in the world! I can’t wait to go check these out. I’m completely in awe of how the pros harness the raw power of the water to make themselves look really, really cool. I also am a fan of the commitment most surfers make to respecting (and conserving) the marine environment.
It still seems weird to be all stoked about watching surfing while getting ready for the Christmas season, but I’ll take it. I’ve become increasingly intolerant of cold weather over the years, so you won’t hear a single complaint out of this lady.
I wonder if I can find some Christmas cards that have a surfing Santa Claus?
Teague's uncle always sends us Christmas cards with a surfing Santa. (He lives in Australia). They're out there!
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